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Our Story

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In April 2017, First Community Title, was purchased by Claire Hartman, Brigitte Allen, David Wolff and Will Lowery and although the ownership itself is new, the history & roots of the company run deep.

First Community Title, or FCT, as it is known today, opened its doors in the 1880s. Owned by the Lusk family it was then known as Bell County Abstract. The Lusk family merged with Temple Abstract but kept the Bell County Abstract name. The Lusk family sold the company to the Law firm of Courtney and Bowmer in the 1960s. The title company flourished led by William ‘Steve’ Stephens. The law firm then sold to Minnesota Title around 1987. Minnesota Title was then purchased by another national title company, Old Republic National Title Insurance Company. They changed the company name to Old Republic Title of Bell County around 1989. In February of 2002, ORT of Bell County was purchased by a local company, Central Community Corp. At the time of the purchase, the company only had 8 employees, three of which are still currently with FCT; Cindy Sladecek (examiner now senior title officer), Terri Holwerda (receptionist, now order desk /policy assistant) and Brigitte Allen (bookkeeper, escrow assistant, operations/training manager, now current owner).

In July 2002, a commercial closer, Claire Hartman, with over 15 years title experience in the Austin/Round Rock markets accepted a position as president of FCT. The only closing office at the time was located on Exchange Place in Temple and soon thereafter, a small office in Killeen was opened and our research facility was in Belton on the town square. Within a year, the company had grown to 11 employees and we began a marketing campaign. In 2004, the Temple office moved to its current location at 4613 South 31st Street. In 2005, we opened our Salado office located on Main St and moved our Killeen office to its current location on 661B West Centex Expressway, Harker Heights. By 2006, business prospered, and the staff grew to more than 30 employees. Then came the crash of 2008-2010. FCT held strong and never failed to make a profit. In 2012, FCT continued to expand, when it purchased Brown Abstract of Coryell County located on the courthouse square in Gatesville. And then expanding again in 2015, when we added examining title for Williamson County.

Our core team has over 350+ years of experience in every aspect of the title transaction and an award-winning examiner to boot. When we say real people, real service, we mean you can have confidence that your team has the knowledge, experience and customer service skills essential to close your real estate transaction no matter how big or small.

You have a right to choose your title company and we hope you choose First Community Title.

OWNERSHIP

Claire Hartman

Brigitte Allen

Owner/ Partner

david.Wolff@fcttx.com
W. 254.773.7750
F. 254.778.2533

David Wolff

Owner/ Partner

Will.Lowery@fcttx.com

Will Lowery

Owner/ Partner

MEET OUR MASCOTS

Emmitt Clyde Whittington

Gabriel

Emmitt's story serves as our sign of new beginnings. He was born September 14, 2001 to a starving and somewhat homely mother at an unoccupied home in Salado. Claire’s family was considering a move to Salado as she had just been offered the position of president with First Community Title. They found the pack, including mama dog and her 9 puppies, under the porch of that home.
The Hartmans took them home, nursed the mother back to health, while she cared for her puppies. All found loving homes, including the brave mother.
When we reflect on our feelings of helplessness after the attack on our country on September 11th, 2001, we remember how refreshing it was to have had this sign of new life, new beginnings and the faith that these small creatures would overcome adversity and rise to a bright and happy future.
We lost our mascot and faithful friend to lymphoma in June of 2011. We mourn our loss but hold our memories of him close to our hearts. We miss him, but we know that this dog has gone to heaven!